Apollo 13

Both sides of the argument were well supported and we agreed to disagree with the following conclusions: one side took the stance that the mission was not successful because they did not make it to the moon; the other side took the stance that the mission was successful because the astronauts’ lives were saved and that the mission evolved into bringing the astronauts home safely. The second issue the green team debated was whether or not ethics played a role in the decisions made by the Apollo 13 team, ground and space. Again we had a split jury. One side felt that ethics and integrity were clearly shown in Apollo 13 when they decided to abandon the mission to the moon when the spacecraft failed for the safety of the astronauts. Both leaders, Lovell and Kranz, demonstrated strong leadership and integrity by collaborating closely with their teams to facilitate clear communication to help escape the danger. This ideology should be emphasized in business corporations. If the collective goal could be identified at the beginning of each problem, it is not difficult to facilitate a collective effort to achieve a common goal. The essence of this film is to teach entities integrity and teamwork. The other side felt that while they could see how the mission was conducted with integrity, but they still having a difficult time seeing how any of it came down to ethics. They did not see any ethical dilemmas played out in the film or the real story of Apollo 13. The mission was aborted, in order to save the astronauts’ own lives, but that is not an ethical decision. We felt that the two most relevant issues were leadership and teamwork. These are the important learning lessons from the film, Apollo 13. Leadership, with complement to teamwork, salvaged the space crew from complete failure. If we had to pick just one relevant issue however, leadership would definitely win out. Your thoughts, insights, and/or conclusions about the Apollo 13 leadership and team lessons. Even though the Apollo 13 team failed the ultimate mission to the moon, we believe leadership and teamwork throughout the film is what made the mission successful. Our team believes teamwork and leadership is what steered the crew through the storm of great danger to reach the haven of safety to Earth. This film depicted characteristics of courage, perseverance, resilience and synergy that embody the idea of leadership and teamwork. The moral of the story can exemplify the challenges leaders face in modern day business. If corporate leaders can take values from the movie and instill strong leadership and teamwork principles into their business, this promotes sustainable success that will overcome any challenges. From the film, Gene Kranz and Jim Lovell collaborated through complex issues and stayed vigilant to their common goal in preparing for the astronaut’s safety return. We have found the J. Singh’s (2008) article entitled, â€Å"Imposters Masquerading as Leaders: Can the Contagion be Contained? † supports Apollo13’s leadership idea through the elements of energy, expertise, and integrity. A true leader according to Singh (2008) â€Å" his energy level at work, or drive, and passion to excel; or what in sporting parlance is referred to as the ‘killer instinct. ’ It performs the role of a starter or dynamo in an engine. It triggers the machine to life† (p. 738). Lovell’s team and Kranz’s team worked together to work out solutions to power the Command Module enable to restart Odyssey to get them back to Earth. The film captured the intensity of the challenge when Kranz said â€Å"failure is not an option† (Grazer, 1995). At the height of the stress, Kranz and Lovell were kicked into the ‘killer instinct’ to do everything in their power to find a solution to bring Lovell’s team home. The second element of leadership according to Singh is expertise. Singh argued â€Å"raw energy can be wasteful, even destructive, if not harnessed well. Therefore, one must be skilled at handling it and channeling it for constructive purposes. Singh latter added expertise is fostered by the â€Å"advanced know-how. † It is acquired through one’s specialized education and training in the related discipline and through â€Å"personal earning distilled from day-to – day experiences† (p. 739). Lovell and his team received extensive training to prepare for their mission prior to launching. Kranz and his team are competent in directing the astronauts for the mi ssion. The teams shared and exchanged each other’s knowledge and expertise to execute the plan to persevere through the danger from death. The third element of leadership profile is integrity (Singh, 2008). Singh argued integrity may be an old fashioned virtue. However, â€Å"no company can claim excellence unless its management is based on a set of non-negotiable values (p. 739). Integrity is a broad term, some of the attributes to this word pertains to the film are honest/transparency, ethics or integrity, communication consistency, honoring commitments, mutual respect, extend credit and appreciation for job well done, accountability for mistakes and stay grounded to his/her beliefs and values (Singh, 2008). The idea of integrity and ethics were shown throughout the film. Lovell and his team were transparent to the problem throughout the challenge to avoid any miscommunications. Lovell and Kranz’s team maintained mutual respect and open communication on issues and challenges they were having in the mission. When Mattingly and Aaron found the way to restart Odyssey by transmitting the power from Aquarius to get Lovell’s team back to safely, their works were acknowledged and recognized by the leaders in the mission of saving Lovell’s team. Not only did the film demonstrated strong leadership skills in maintaining vigilance in prioritizing space crew’s safety, teamwork complements the final success of getting the crew back home safely. Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith’s research (2005), â€Å"The Discipline of Teams† argued true teamwork is prescribed through teams sharing leadership roles, holding people accountable, specific team purpose each team delivers, collective work products, encourage open-ended discussions in problem setting situation, measuring performance by assessing collective work products, discussion and make decision that work for everyone (p. 64). These characteristics were apparent in Kranz’s team when they sit together to brainstorm solutions to bring the astronauts back to Earth. Each member in Kranz’s teams was assigned different tasks and was encouraged to come up with new solutions to help solve this problem. Your experiences with the team process. Challenges? Benefits? Changes from beginning of week to end of week? Team project usually is more of a challenge than ease due to the requirement of equal commitments from every member of the team. Teamwork from online program is more difficult as teams re made of members that are from different geographic locations. The challenge was even greater for us because our team has the largest time zone difference than the other teams in our class. Brittan is working Afghanistan and Shawnae and I (Yi) live on the opposite side of the country from Shawnae. We were limited in being able to â€Å"meet† and discuss the project as frequently as we would want due to other obligations, such all of us work full time. However, we were able to manage this stress by actively communicating with each other about our situation and limitation. We were able to utilize team forums and chat room to facilitate our communication for this case project. Despite the fact that we were separated by different time zones and working full time, our team were able to communicate last Sunday and properly communicate the work we have to do. Each of the members took on a portion of the assignment and work on it on our own time. Even though we have never met physically, we were confident in our each other’s ability to meet the requirement of getting our portion of the work done on time for our discussion.

The Ethernet Technology Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Ethernet Technology Report - Essay Example For transporting digital bits of data through the carrier waves, Ethernet has some encoding techniques. These encoding techniques aid in synchronizing the data sending and data receiving stations and providing a signal with strength sufficient enough to deliver a required amount of data rate. So, the difference in encoding techniques relate to the difference in the data transfer speed provided by the Ethernet cable. For instance, the three encoding techniques Manchester, 4B/5B and 8B/10B are used for the providing Ethernet LAN of speeds 10Mbps, 100 Mbps and 1Gbps respectively (TechFest.com, 1999). Manchester encoding delivers a signal of frequency 10MHz which is sufficient to provide a data rate of 10Mbps for the 10Base5 and 10Base2 coaxial cables. The installation is easy and new systems can be added easily. However, owing to the bus topology (in 10Base5) and the fact that the cabling is half duplex (i.e. same cable used for sending and receiving), chances of collisions would be mor e and the throughput of the system would be less. In case of daisy chains (10Base2), routing difficulties would be present. Secondly, the higher data rates cannot be achieved due to coaxial cables. In case of using 10BaseT twisted pair cables, 20Mbps can be achieved owing to full duplex mode. New hosts can be added easily in the supported star topology network. However, repeaters are required after every 100m unlike 10Base5 and 10Base2. When using 10BaseFL, repeaters are not needed till 1000m. The 4B/5B encoding delivers a 62.5MHz frequency signal on the 100Base-Tx Cat 5 twisted pair cabling. A signal of maximally 100MHz is enough to be transmitted over a medium of 100Mbps. In full duplex mode, any new host can be added without affecting the collision rates. 4B/5B encoding is also used in 100Base-Fx cables.

M2A1 - Q3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

M2A1 - Q3 - Essay Example In the case of inflation, an organization can undergo a huge loss since the manufacturing cost will be affected. In the same case, the government issues out regulatory restriction against a certain product. If the government burns a trade of a certain product, it means that the organization will have to dispose of and undergo loss. Regional conflict also will affect the market status in that; individual will not be willing to shop from a certain communities businesses (Newton, 2011). Organization culture affects the progress of the company. Organization whose employees work under different culture collapses latter. In order to manage culture, a leader must make the culture a priority. This can be achieved by uniting, refocusing and regrouping the workers to have a team and winning environment. The leader should also change the negative energy to a positive one. This can be done by utilizing the challenges at hand and complains to generate new ideas, path of success and innovation (Newton, 2011). The leaders should also meet with the company and share the vision and fiscal status to ensure that everything is handled before it becomes a challenge. Leaders should share a positive vision to employees and ensure that each person in the organization understands and rally around a vision. This will ensure employee motivation since they will fell as if they are attached and also are part of the company and be motivated to work and achieve the visions (Gordon, 2014). In conclusion, the continuity and progress of the organization is in the hands of the leaders. Leaders should be conversant with the leadership strategies, which can bring about organizational motivations. Despite the variables available, leaders should be able to use the leadership strategies to ensure organization’s progress and

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin Essay

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin - Essay Example The sense of originality has lost by use of pictures as compared to paintings. According to Benjamin, the reproducible film represents a historical shift that many audiences might fail to notice. Benjamin noted that the work of art reproduced mechanically has intervened to fill the void left by loss of aura. For instance, the loss of authority by the original work of art has been compensated by the use of a camera. Cameraman can direct the viewers eyes towards specific places and stories, as a result of being radical, revolutionary and totalitarian. Mechanical reproduction has introduced distraction as a new way of reception. There is a shift in the location of work of art that can be referred to as an aura to the mythological space. People are now capable of visiting places like museums, theaters, galleries and cinemas to see the work of art. Benjamin, however, complements the loss of aura. He notes that the loss has opened up politicization of the work of art put into use in different ways. He observes that a mechanical reproduction has managed to change contemplation regarding the screen as well as the films

Strategic Management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Management - Coursework Example The rising consumer needs in the developing as well as the developed markets is generating a uniform business opportunity. Companies of local as well as international origin are actively focusing on entering newer markets as well as expanding their presence in existing markets so as to capitalize the newly emerging business opportunities. The business firms of the 21st century are actively focusing on radical as well as disruptive innovation so as to effectively fulfill the needs of the masses. It is important to highlight that the because of the presence of multiple firms offering homogenous products and services, the competition in the market is extremely high. The availability of similar kinds of product and service offerings are resulting in the increase in power for the buyers. It has to be said that to deal with the intense market competition as well as to retain their competitive edge, the organizations needs to design as well as execute successful strategies. This particular assignment focuses on the aspects of strategy development, cutting edge technology as well as the sustainable competitive advantage which are necessary for present day organizations. Traditionally, organizations around the world follow a well designed hierarchy, the top of which is often tasked with the responsibility of strategy planning as well as implementation. For the implementation as well as execution of strategies, companies in various corners of the world often follow the usual one way top down implementation approach. Over the course of execution of business, there have often been doubts about whether it is possible to design effective strategies without following the traditional top down route. In order to find a satisfying answer to this particular focus, it is important to highlight that there is a high level of persistence that is associated with the hierarchical concept of an organization. Organizations which

Customer Relationship Management and its implication to the Essay

Customer Relationship Management and its implication to the Information Flow and Business Strategy - Essay Example The author of the essay "Customer Relationship Management and its implication to the Information Flow and Business Strategy" comes to the interesting conclusions. The author of this research paper assumes that any successful business today operates in a very competitive and complex environment. The competition is increasing day by day the margins are shrinking. Several environmental factors are affecting the profit margins of the companies. These factors are related to each other and at the same time it is also influencing the internal factors of the organization. Organizations need to fulfill the expectations of all its stake holders. There is always a need to understand the complex environment and consumer behavior on continuous basis so that the market is served properly with right solution, at right time with good profit margins. Customer relationship Management now has become key to any successful organization is a vast and complex area of studies. This helps the organizations to serve their customers effectively, efficiently and profitable, get competitive leverage on the database, standardize the all the customer touch points in the organization, smoothen the marketing and sales activities. The projects which have strategically proven positive investments are those which are successful in socio-technical dimensions. The author also discusses such topics as business intelligence, knowledge management, and effective and efficient business intelligence systems.

English Mamet Miller Essay Example for Free

English Mamet Miller Essay Crucial to the dramatic impact of any stage play are the entrances and exits of the characters, as well as the motivations which drive these entrances and exits.   In both Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman and David Mamets Glengarry Glen Roos, pivotal events and sequences of events are set in motion by the entrances of exits of the plays characters. The   entrances and exits of the characters and, most importantly, the entrances and exits of the plays main characters, are keyed to the thematic impulses of the plays. In Death of a Salesman it is the very existence of an exit for Willie Loman that drives the plays message regarding classicism and the American Dream.  Ã‚   In Glengarry Glen Ross, the action of the play is framed almost entirely by the entrances and exits of the players on or off of an unchanging set than from various set-changes which set mood and pace.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Millers Death of a Salesman offers one of the most famous and memorable exits of a plays main character in American theater. Mamets Glengarry Glen Ross offers ironic and darkly comical entrances and exits by its main character Shelly Levine. The most prominent impact of a characters entrances and exits on stage to an audience is to signal to the audience that the character or characters in question will either be apart from the ensuing action, or be initiated into it. For audiences the arrivals end exits of a plays main character are poignant and obvious symbols of a change in the direction of the plot, pace, and mood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Millers Death of a Salesman exemplifies how the entrance and exit of a plays main character can frame the entire action of a play. The plays first dramatic action, other than the revelation of the non-realistic and semitransparent set, is the entrance of Willie Loman who comes onstage carrying two large sample-cases. (Miller).   The image of a man, past sixty, striding onto an unrealistic set with two suitcases transmits a considerable amount of information to the audience in a   single dramatic gesture. Loman, merely by entering the stage, can be obviously determined to be a middle-aged man, lost in hazy memories of the past, facing an uncertain future, carrying a heavy load, and ready to travel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These qualities are precisely those which drive the plays dramatic plot and its themes. The plot involves Willie Lomans battle to make a home and living world for his family, to find meaning in his existence, and to salvage dignity from an undignified station in life. The theme of the play, which deals with economic disparity and the dissolution of the average working person, is clearly articulated purely by the image of Willie Lomans initial entrance onto the hazy, dreamlike set.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lomans exit, which closes the play, is similarly concise in dramatic impact and vision. Before making his famous exit to his own death Loman turns to emphatically address the audience. He says, Theres all kinds of important people in the stands; and the first thing you know. This direct appeal to the audience, spoken just before Lomans final exit from the stage, invites the audience to identify even more deeply with Loman and his plight just prior to his death. The breaking of the invisible fourth wall (or at least the bending of it) invests Loman with humanity and realism, bringing the audience as close to him as he possibly can, before throwing himself to his fate.   (Miller)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this way, the dialogue spoken by characters as the enter or exit the stage can be rightly considered a part of the exit or entrance itself and is, in a well-made drama, keyed compositionally into the thematic purpose of the entrance or exit. When Loman speaks his last word to the audience Shhh! the audience knows, even before his exit, that he is about to do something extremely important,. perhaps more dramatic and more important than any action up to that point in the play.   The dialogue is, itself, signaling both his exit and the plays climax. Lomans physical exit from the stage is accompanied not only by spoken dialogue, but it is immediately followed by an off-stage cacophony which directly contradicts Lomans Shhh!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This abrupt shift, from a call to silence, to a roaring crash, which modulates to a single cello note, wraps the play together thematically as well as granting the complex plot a suitable denouement.   The swift transformation from impelled silence to the off-stage crash takes the audience through a grand dramatic arc in the space of a few moments and encapsulates the plays essential message about the sanctity of the individual. By framing the entirety of the play with Lomans exceedingly well-composed and envisioned entrance, Miller conveys the essence of his theme through two dramatic gestures, each of which incites the reader or audience to identify more closely and more intensely with Lomans plight and fate and in so doing, embrace to the same degree the plays thematic message.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mamets Glengarry Glen Ross offers a similar thematic impulse as Death of a Salesman, in that it explores the dissolution and degradation of a little man in American society. However, Mamet, rather than opting for warm, empathetic audience identification, seeks to lead his audience to his thematic message by way of a study in ambition and moral ambiguity. Shelly Levine aspires to be a thief and a selfish and materialistic person.   The impact of his selfishness and materialism is conveyed, often ironically, through his entrance sand exits in the play. An example of this is in Act Two when Levine bursts onto the (ransacked) office-set with tremendous glee and confidence. He says:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Get the chalk.   Get the chalkget   the chalk!   I closed em!   I closedthe cocksucker.   Get the chalk and put me on the board.   Im going to Hawaii!   Put me on the Cadillac board, Williamson!   Pick up the fuckin chalk.   Eight units. Mountain View   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Meanwhile, it is clear to the audience by the mere fact of the office being in shambles, that Levines victorious tone is   completely inappropriate. This is an ironic gesture, created by Mamet from the dissonance created by Levines up-beat entrance and the shambled state of the set he enters on. The irony generated in this gesture is central to the plays themes of selfish dissolution and culpability.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Like Miller, Mamet incorporates important dialogue into the entrances   and exits of the characters and, like Miller, he utilizes audience expectation and the sudden change of the plays pace and mood to transmit important thematic information tot he audience. In this, both playwrights partake of musical composition where the various entrances and exists of melodic themes and passages indicate a shift in mood and thematic direction for the listener.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Similarly, Aaronows exit into the side-office in the same scene discussed above indicates a pending plot complication. His line We had a robbery. which comes just before he moves from the office-space to the inner-room indicates a shift in the plot. The line indicates that the motion of leaving the main office is somehow tied to the fact of the robbery. And at this point, the audience feels intensely, the ironic impact of Levines enthusiastic entrance earlier in the scene.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The energy of the scene is tied directly to the plays themes and, in fact, encapsulates them for the audience. Levines initial excitement and dialogue are indicative of the ambition which drives him; Aaronows line and subsequent stage-movement   indicates both the moral ambiguity of Levines ambition and the potential repercussions for this naked ambition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Both Miller and Mamet decline to give their main characters entrances and exits of noble stature or consequence (as one might expect from a Shakespearean or Greek tragedy). Instead, the players entrances and exits are ironic, chaotic, elegiac, or fragmented. For miller the lack of grand entrances and exists invested with nobility symbolized the fragmentation and degradation of an individuals mind, body,m and spirit. For Mamet, the rather hectic and ominous entrances and exits of the characters in Glengarry Glen Ross   symbolize the disorder and fragmentation of modern society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As important to the dramatic impact of the play as dialogue or plot, the entrances and exits of a plays charters produce a dynamic relationship with the plays sets and situations. As noted above, Mamets construction of a pivotal scene in Act 2 is structured around an ironic entrance by the plays protagonist.   Millers unforgettable climax is structured around the tragic exit of Willie Loman; the plays Requiem in effect becoming an extension of this last exit, for it is the absence (the exit) of Loman which provides the impetus and motion of all that concludes beyond his leaving the stage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Shelly Levine is guided meekly away in handcuffs by detectives at the close of Glengarry Glen Ross, the audience is left with the impression of tragedy, but also with a sense of ironic justice. The meekness of Levine, in contrast to the ambition which has propelled him through the events of the play and given rise to the plays complications is reduced, at last, to helpless culpability.   Ã‚   This resonance drives Mamets theme of social disintegration for it is not merely a moral failing on Levines part which incites the plays final, ironic tragedy, but the hopelessness of ambition and competition in an economically driven society, which values money over human relationships or moral fortitude.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By staking so much dramatic impact on the entrances and exits of their characters, both Miller and Mamet, create a sense of constant motion, excitement, change and energy, giving a sense of the ephemerality of an individuals existence. In effect the entrances and exits of Loman and Levine demonstrate the ineffectuality of the individual in an impersonal society, but they also manage to convey (usually by irony) a sense of the injustice which accompanies their characters ignoble entrances and exits.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For Miler, the sanctity and nobility of the individual was more important even than death for Mamet the destruction of the individual through submission to material ambition was viewed as thoroughly corrupting, so much that his protagonist perceived victory only at the moment of his actual defeat. For Loman, some form of self-reclamation took place in his final, tragic exit form the stage; for Levine, self-reclamation is left as an ambiguous and unlikely possibility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both Death of a Salesman and Glengarry Glen Rooss depend on important entrances and exits by their main (and minor) characters to shape the flow and pace of the plays scenes, plots, and character development but also to transmit through gesture, word, and motion the thematic meaning, or message of the work. In each case, the use of dialogue, set-changes, and dramatic irony accompany the entrances and exits of their characters as a method for inverting (or subverting)the traditional, flourished and noble entrances of classically tragic characters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Miller and Mamet each chose to articulate the story of little men. In keeping with these portrayals, they necessarily constructed entrances and exits for these characters and the characters the interacted with in order to present the theme of the individual in modern society, with a vie toward examining the moral implications of materialism, ambition, and classicism in American society. the entrances and exits of their characters proved to be crucial technical elements for transmitting these important themes.